I imagine that you have worked for some good leaders in your professional career and a few duds alogn the way. (Maybe more than a few. ) Good leaders are rarely alike, but you know them when you see them.

"I know it when I see it" is an individual thing. What you see and what you respond to isn't exactly the same as another's experience.

Yes, I've encountered people in the corp sector who have inspired me, and I've also seen how those same people didn't inspire others. I've encountered people who've gotten raves from other people and I'm left unimpressed. So, imo, leadership is in the eye of the beholder, then it can't be the same for everyone. So, in a group, those who try to label Sid as "LEADER" or "NOT LEADER" will take so many different things in consideration, that the group will be hard-pressed to gain consensus. That's what I mean when I say we can't define it--each of us can for ourselves, but we can't do so in a universal manner.

Penspal wrote:- Any love/hate for Bennett taking a couple of penalties in this game?- Anyone see lineup changes for the next game?- Can we please call down to WBS and call up Moe Mentum? Desperately needed for game 7

I wouldn't be shocked to see Glass in for Bennett only because it will get Gibbons more ice time.

Gibbons-Goc-StempniakGlass-Vitale-Adams

That nmight be a better bottom 6 than what we have been seeing even if it means Bennett is scratched.

I never thought i would say this, but how about harry z? I hated the signing, but the guy is quick and has an edge to him that gets under your skin (even mine). I would like to see him with gibbons on the PK, that speed would create some things.

The player's quotes after these losses to the Rangers are pretty much the exact same things they said after bad losses in the regular season. Same exact thing, same results. I don't know if they are just repeating these phrases like drones and giving lip service to media or they actually believe what their saying. For example, "We didn't match their desperation level." WHY NOT??! If the Pens did and played a semblance of a 60 minute game, they'd be relaxing at home right now awaiting the ECF to start. But now they have themselves playing in a pressure cooker Game 7 tomorrow. Just made it 100 times harder on themselves. Frustrating.

I think the past 3 weeks have blinded some of you. Do you not remember what this team has been doing since January?

This team has been playing .500 hockey since January/February. 5 months of .500 hockey and people are surprised that the team is this inconsistent? Sid has been "off" since pre-Sochi. The PP has been struggling for a while. The bottom 6 has stunk all year. The team has been short, small, and soft all season. Scuder and Adams have been anchors since October.

This is the WORST roster Shero has assembled since 2008/2009 and yet we are 1 win away from the Eastern Conference Finals for the 2nd time in 2 years.

Nobody looks at this roster and figures that this is our CEILING? I think in March we had a general LGP consensus that this team wasn't built for a long playoff run. Well, we somehow have managed to go on a long run with a lineup riddled with holes.

I figured our ceiling this season was winning 2 rounds (8 playoff wins). Factor in a slumping Sid, awful PP, Scuderi, giving away game 5 for free, I think we should be happy to be 3-3 right now in this series. If you are upset right now it's simply because of the sequence in which the games were Won and Lost. The series deserves to be 3-3. NYR have been better than us since February. It is no great embarrassment or failure to lose to them. Losing 3 in a row would suck but look at our roster, what about that roster gives you the feeling that we should steamroll our way to the Cup Finals?

Best case scenario is we win tomorrow and then win 1 or 2 games vs Boston for a total of 9 or 10 playoff games won. If we lose tomorrow we end the season with a total of 7 playoff games won. So the end of the road is near. This team wasn't built to win a cup this year. 7 wins, 8 wins, 9 wins in the postseason.....that's about all I figured we'd be able to muster with this group.

Sorry, but this feels like the loser's cop-out way of thinking. Oh, we really weren't that good so this losing streak shouldn't come as a surprise. Guess what, this is the PITTSBURGH PENGUINS, not the frickin Blue Jackets or the Panthers or any of those other mediocre bottom feeders who would be happy to be in this position right now. Like it or not, this franchise has built a history that causes some pretty high expectations (the ugliest, dirtiest word in the sports fan dictionary). The team's performance in the regular season and putting 100+ points on the board (even in the inflated points world of todays NHL) causes everyone to expect a deep run. We're in the playoffs now and the expectation is the Cup. Perhaps if the Penguins weren't as talented or had injuries like they did against TB in 2011, then we could accept this situation. But hey, if things don't go right tomorrow night, everyone will still get their lollipop and we can hang a banner for winning the division.

penny lane wrote:^ the easiest thing for Sid to do should be to shoot the puck. He refuses, 5 on 5, 4 on 4, 5 on 3... why?

I still think Sid is playing with an injury or, at the very least, the after-effects of one. I may be completely wrong, but that’s what makes the most sense to me when it comes to his refusal to shoot, his passing gaffes, and some of the other aspects of his play that are decidedly atypical. At this point, I really think he’s not feeling very confident about his ability to score and is looking to pass to someone who he feels is more likely to bury the shot.

I don’t doubt for a moment that he wants to win, and I have to think that his apparent inability to play at an elite level and help his team achieve that goal is weighing heavily on him and probably making a difficult situation even worse. Hearing how much he sucks, how pathetic he is, how he is letting his team down, how much of an embarrassment he is can’t be doing anything for his self-confidence. I hope that his tête-à-tête with Mario last night wasn’t a kick in the arse but more of a helping hand. I think he really could use someone in his corner right now.

Crosby's being chastized for his emotional outburts and penalty in Game 6?I don't get it. No one is saying Lundqvist is off his game for the jabs he's thrown at Sid during the series. Staal, Girardi and Moore all get to cross-check, spear and hack at Sid all they want, but when Sid recipricates, he's a baby? I can't really wrap my head around how Sid got called for a cross check at the end of the period, but Moore's hold on his stick moments before was ok. I just don't get the criticism here. I understand he needs to score, but I'm not seeing the Crosby of the 2012 Flyers series who lost his focus and took senseless penalties.

Great58 wrote:Crosby's being chastized for his emotional outburts and penalty in Game 6?I don't get it. No one is saying Lundqvist is off his game for the jabs he's thrown at Sid during the series. Staal, Girardi and Moore all get to cross-check, spear and hack at Sid all they want, but when Sid recipricates, he's a baby? I can't really wrap my head around how Sid got called for a cross check at the end of the period, but Moore's hold on his stick moments before was ok. I just don't get the criticism here. I understand he needs to score, but I'm not seeing the Crosby of the 2012 Flyers series who lost his focus and took senseless penalties.

Great58 wrote:Crosby's being chastized for his emotional outburts and penalty in Game 6?I don't get it. No one is saying Lundqvist is off his game for the jabs he's thrown at Sid during the series. Staal, Girardi and Moore all get to cross-check, spear and hack at Sid all they want, but when Sid recipricates, he's a baby? I can't really wrap my head around how Sid got called for a cross check at the end of the period, but Moore's hold on his stick moments before was ok. I just don't get the criticism here. I understand he needs to score, but I'm not seeing the Crosby of the 2012 Flyers series who lost his focus and took senseless penalties.

That's one point that definitely grinds everyone's gears about the officiating in this series. How is Staal allowed to get away with what he did in Game 1? And because he gets away with it, he can do it for the rest of the series. I definitely don't blame Sid for being hacked off about the abuse he's been taking, all in the name of 'playoff hockey'. However, most of the great teams of different eras had an enforcer to take care of morons like Staal. I know fighting is rather taboo in the playoffs but Sid needs someone like a McSorley/Grimson/even Biz-Nasty to be out there patrolling and laying down the law when the star gets abused...and it has to happen in Game 1 when it happens, not in Game 6 or 7 when its already established.

farnham16 wrote:The Rangers had a full practice today. The Pens had another optional one. And that is all people need to know.

I know people go overboard on the practice schedule round here, but this is as big of a joke as any in the Bylsma era. Of all days in the past 4 years to not have an optional practice, it was after last night. I don't care if they're somewhere in the CEC watching film or what, they needed to be on the ice.

While we are complaining about little things. How about that officiating? It seems at every point in the playoffs where the Pens have had a lead, the refs have been loathe to make a call against the team that is trailing. Not so when the Pens are trailing. No such problem with the refs last night.

Also, the Rangers are reading the give and go tap to the wing waiting on the blue line zone entry. They are waiting for the dinky tap back to the center, they try to poke the puck behind them and get an odd man rush. Pens need to adjust.

farnham16 wrote:The Rangers had a full practice today. The Pens had another optional one. And that is all people need to know.

That's because they had a full day of lazer tag, monopoly and ice cream at Dairy Queen.

That's what the boys really needed! A nice play date where they go out and have some fun with their buddies and they can forget all about the massive choke job they are about to complete tomorrow night.